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Aqua Gauge in Action: Case Studies in Water Risk Management

At Ford Motor Company, water is an important element to the manufacturing process. For the automaker, it’s critical to numerous manufacturing steps, including vehicle painting, where large volumes of water are traditionally used to rinse cars, ensuring that not a speck of dust ruins that perfect paint job. Since 2000, Ford has had a strong track record of water use reductions in its manufacturing operations and an aggressive goal to reduce water use even further – by 30% per vehicle by 2015.

In late 2011, global power systems manufacturer Cummins began developing a comprehensive water management strategy, recognizing water as a rising global challenge, especially in key emerging markets such as India. The company already had a robust climate and energy efficiency strategy, but recognized that the approach taken with energy couldn’t be directly applied to water.

Comprehensive water stewardship is a top business priority for The Coca-Cola Company, which since 2004 has improved the efficiency of its water use by 20 percent. However as water risks intensify globally and investor and stakeholder expectations continue to grow, Coca-Cola identified the need for a rigorous third-party evaluation of its water management approach. A Ceres member company, Coca-Cola partnered with Ceres and Irbaris in 2012 to use the Ceres Aqua Gauge™ tool to assess the strengths and weaknesses of its water stewardship strategy.